U S Bank Tower

Two decades ago, One Wilshire was just another fading office tower losing its white-collar tenants to splashy new skyscrapers nearby. Today the unassuming high-rise is one of the most valuable in the city, having sold for a record $437.5 million. The reason for its transformation from ordinary to extraordinary: the Internet. Built in 1966, the building has become one of the world's top three telecommunications centers and is widely regarded in the industry as the single most important telecommunications hub in the Western U.S. Billions of phone calls, emails and Internet pages pass through One Wilshire every week because it is the primary terminus for major fiber-optic cable routes between Asia and North America "You can't reproduce the connectivity," said real estate broker Kevin Shannon of CBRE Group Inc. "It's telecom gold.

In a sign that the definition of prime office space is undergoing a dramatic shift, an old downtown Los Angeles office complex - once considered second rate - is now outperforming many of its newer, glitzier competitors. PacMutual Plaza, which dates to 1908, was one of the best addresses in Southern California until an unprecedented office building boom in the late 1980s and early 1990s brought a stately new crop of skyscrapers to town. For decades to follow, PacMutual - in the same block as the Biltmore hotel in Pershing Square - was a lower-cost alternative to such elite enclaves of corporate America as U.S. Bank Tower, Two California Plaza and the Gas Company Tower.

The $367.5-million sale of U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, the tallest building in the West, has been completed. Its new owner is Singapore investor Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd. The developer and landlord also owns commercial properties including offices, shopping centers and hotels in Singapore, Malaysia and the People's Republic of China. The planned sale by MPG Office Trust Inc. was announced in March. MPG, which has been the largest office landlord in downtown L.A. for many years, is winding down its business and selling its assets.

Dustin House and co-workers spent a recent morning in a massive hole in downtown Los Angeles where the 73-story Wilshire Grand Hotel will soon rise to become the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. As one of the superintendents for the $1-billion project, House - wearing his hard hat, protective sunglasses and work boots - oversees the workers pulling the last bit of concrete from the old Wilshire Grand site, which is in the final stages of demolition this month. But later this year the big job begins as crews start pouring the concrete foundation and working their way up, floor by floor.

The $367.5-million sale of U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, the tallest building in the West, has been completed. Its new owners are Singapore investors Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd. The developer and landlord also owns commercial properties including, offices, shopping centers and hotels in Singapore, Malaysia and the People's Republic of China. The planned sale by MPG Office Trust Inc. was announced in March. MPG, which has been the largest office landlord in downtown L.A. for many years, is winding down its business and selling its assets.

One of the biggest players in Manhattan real estate is about to become the largest landlord in downtown Los Angeles, controlling five of the 10 tallest skyscrapers in the city. In a blockbuster deal, Brookfield Office Properties Inc. is paying about $430 million for some of the most prominent buildings on the city skyline, including Gas Company Tower and Wells Fargo Tower. The pending deal marks the end of one of Los Angeles' most celebrated office developers, MPG Office Trust, the financially struggling firm that just last month agreed to sell U.S. Bank Tower, the tallest building in the West, to foreign investors.

With office rents and occupancy rates stuck in neutral, only nine new office buildings were completed in Los Angeles County in the first quarter. The nine buildings contain a total of 140,000 square feet, a pittance by local standards. The U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, for instance, holds more than 1.4 million square feet. More properties came on line in the fourth quarter of 2012, when 15 buildings with nearly 710,000 square feet were completed, real estate data provider CoStar Group said.

Dustin House and co-workers spent a recent morning in a massive hole in downtown Los Angeles where the 73-story Wilshire Grand Hotel will soon rise to become the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. As one of the superintendents for the $1-billion project, House - wearing his hard hat, protective sunglasses and work boots - oversees the workers pulling the last bit of concrete from the old Wilshire Grand site, which is in the final stages of demolition this month. But later this year the big job begins as crews start pouring the concrete foundation and working their way up, floor by floor.

At lunchtime, businessman Joe Wilson likes to check out the action just down the street on Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles. It's not the traffic he's watching; it's the slow but methodical demolition of the old Wilshire Grand Hotel at the corner of two of the city's busiest thoroughfares. "Every afternoon when I go out for lunch, I walk by to see what they're doing," said Wilson, who has now seen the hotel reduced to an entire city block of rubble. It's the first step toward construction of a 73-story skyscraper hotel planned for that spot by 2017.

In a sign that the definition of prime office space is undergoing a dramatic shift, an old downtown Los Angeles office complex - once considered second rate - is now outperforming many of its newer, glitzier competitors. PacMutual Plaza, which dates to 1908, was one of the best addresses in Southern California until an unprecedented office building boom in the late 1980s and early 1990s brought a stately new crop of skyscrapers to town. For decades to follow, PacMutual - in the same block as the Biltmore hotel in Pershing Square - was a lower-cost alternative to such elite enclaves of corporate America as U.S. Bank Tower, Two California Plaza and the Gas Company Tower.

Two decades ago, One Wilshire was just another fading office tower losing its white-collar tenants to splashy new skyscrapers nearby. Today the unassuming high-rise is one of the most valuable in the city, having sold for a record $437.5 million. The reason for its transformation from ordinary to extraordinary: the Internet. Built in 1966, the building has become one of the world's top three telecommunications centers and is widely regarded in the industry as the single most important telecommunications hub in the Western U.S. Billions of phone calls, emails and Internet pages pass through One Wilshire every week because it is the primary terminus for major fiber-optic cable routes between Asia and North America "You can't reproduce the connectivity," said real estate broker Kevin Shannon of CBRE Group Inc. "It's telecom gold.

At lunchtime, businessman Joe Wilson likes to check out the action just down the street on Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles. It's not the traffic he's watching; it's the slow but methodical demolition of the old Wilshire Grand Hotel at the corner of two of the city's busiest thoroughfares. "Every afternoon when I go out for lunch, I walk by to see what they're doing," said Wilson, who has now seen the hotel reduced to an entire city block of rubble. It's the first step toward construction of a 73-story skyscraper hotel planned for that spot by 2017.

The $367.5-million sale of U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, the tallest building in the West, has been completed. Its new owners are Singapore investors Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd. The developer and landlord also owns commercial properties including, offices, shopping centers and hotels in Singapore, Malaysia and the People's Republic of China. The planned sale by MPG Office Trust Inc. was announced in March. MPG, which has been the largest office landlord in downtown L.A. for many years, is winding down its business and selling its assets.

The $367.5-million sale of U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, the tallest building in the West, has been completed. Its new owner is Singapore investor Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd. The developer and landlord also owns commercial properties including offices, shopping centers and hotels in Singapore, Malaysia and the People's Republic of China. The planned sale by MPG Office Trust Inc. was announced in March. MPG, which has been the largest office landlord in downtown L.A. for many years, is winding down its business and selling its assets.

Five of the 10 tallest skyscrapers in Los Angeles will soon be controlled by a Manhattan real estate company in one of the biggest shake-ups of the downtown commercial real estate market in decades. Brookfield Office Properties Inc. has agreed to pay about $430 million for four prominent buildings on the urban skyline, including Gas Company Tower and Wells Fargo Tower on Bunker Hill. The pending deal would mark the end of MPG Office Trust Inc., one of Southern California's most celebrated office developers.

With office rents and occupancy rates stuck in neutral, only nine new office buildings were completed in Los Angeles County in the first quarter. The nine buildings contain a total of 140,000 square feet, a pittance by local standards. The U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, for instance, holds more than 1.4 million square feet. More properties came on line in the fourth quarter of 2012, when 15 buildings with nearly 710,000 square feet were completed, real estate data provider CoStar Group said.

The tallest building in the West, the financially struggling U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, is being sold to Singapore investors for $367.5 million. At 72 stories, the circular structure has commanded the city skyline since it was completed in 1989 and is one of the best-known office buildings in the country. It was previously named Library Tower and also First Interstate World Center. The skyscraper designed by the New York firm of star architect I.M. Pei is the tallest building in L.A. - but not the most popular with tenants.

The tallest building in the West, the financially struggling U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, is being sold to Singapore investors for $367.5 million. At 72 stories, the circular structure has commanded the city skyline since it was completed in 1989 and is one of the best-known office buildings in the country. It was previously named Library Tower and also First Interstate World Center. The skyscraper designed by the New York firm of star architect I.M. Pei is the tallest building in L.A. - but not the most popular with tenants.